Breaking down latest Capitals news on shut down
The Washington Capitals have one more game left tonight before the league goes on another pause through the Christmas holiday and possibly beyond. It’s almost de ja vu but thankfully it’s not the Buffalo Sabres tonight, it’s the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Caps are in the middle of a morning skate as I’m writing this right now. So far we know this, Tom Wilson was on the ice and took the first rush so it appears that he is back from his upper body injury. The Caps also recalled Brett Leason from the Hershey Bears after just sending him down a day ago, a paper transaction.
Now comes the scary part. Daniel Sprong and Justin Schultz were not on the ice for morning skate. Both were pulled and will get tested again before they make a decision on each player’s status.
Here were the lines from morning skate via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:
Ovechkin-Eller-Wilson
Sheary-McMichael-Hathaway
Hagelin-Dowd-Leason
Snively-Protas-Sgarbossa
Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Irwin-TvR
Here’s the official verbiage of the pause from NHL PR:
"With no games currently scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 22, because of COVID-related postponements, the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association have agreed to postpone the five games that remain scheduled on Thursday, Dec. 23, in order to begin the collectively-bargained Holiday Break effective with the conclusion of games tonight, Dec. 21.Under the revised schedule, Dec. 22, Dec. 23, Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) shall be off days for all purposes — including travel.Players will report back to their Clubs on Dec. 26, which shall be used for testing, practice and/or travel only. Upon return from the Holiday Break to team facilities, no individual in the team’s Traveling Party shall enter the facility (other than for testing purposes) until they have a negative test result. Any practice scheduled for Dec. 26 must begin after 2:00 p.m. local time.The League’s regular-season schedule will resume on Monday, Dec. 27."
Right as we typed this, Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reported that the Caps canceled their media availability…
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Stay tuned because who knows what’s going to happen next. This post will update accordingly. Stay safe out there Caps fans.
Update: tonight’s game is postponed.